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About

My name is Matthew Digesti and I am a big believer in Reno! I was born and raised in the biggest little city until I graduated high school. And like most eighteen year-olds, I could not wait to attend college and leave Reno behind forever. It was the late 1990’s and Reno felt like it would never break the chains of B class casinos, strip club advertisements on the top of every cab, and a feeling that things would always be the same. So with a burning desire for change, I fled to California to begin my new life.

I spent college in sunny San Diego and law school in California’s capital city. I focused heavily on business economics and intellectual property, which confirmed that I had a very real passion for business. After graduating law school and clerking at the Nevada Supreme Court, I spent a short 9 months at a large regional law firm in San Diego before I got the entrepreneur bug. I founded a sports and entertainment law firm in Southern California and was registered as a major league baseball agent. I was just a few high-level clients away from fulfilling my dream of owning my own sports agency. But, like millions of entrepreneurs before me, I did not succeed. So with little options other than competing for entry-level employee positions in law firms, I decided to return to my roots in Reno and join my father’s law firm as a partner.

It was the spring of 2009 and the housing crises had decimated Reno, along with my career in California. At the time, I felt like a massive failure. I was supposed to be riding my So Cal wave of success to the heights of the major league baseball world, not moving back to Reno. Little did I know that Reno was on the brink of a business revival and that my career would follow with it.

I focused mostly on business litigation but became immersed in the Reno startup scene. There was a palpable excitement; an undeniable buzz. I found myself getting the most excited about advising startups at no cost. My focus continued to evolve until I was litigating business cases and advising startups exclusively. And now that I serve as the Chief Legal Officer for one of Reno’s most exciting and fastest growing startups, I practice, full time, in the startup/high growth arena.

My current job has also allowed me to continue helping Reno entrepreneurs navigate the startup phase. I have learned that entrepreneurs are only as good as the information they have at their disposal. Unfortunately, lawyers have done an incredible job of keeping their knowledge tucked away until paid a handsome fee. This has created a huge information imbalance in our community between those who can afford legal services and those who cannot. My goal with this blog is to change that.

Reno has blessed me with an incredible journey in the business world and because of that, I feel an obligation to give some of my time back to the Reno startup community. Knowledge is the great equalizer–an asset that should never be unobtainable because it is unaffordable. So with this blog, I hope to level the playing field by providing entrepreneurs with information that will help them navigate the legal landmines inherent in startup ventures.

I am excited to take this journey with you Reno. So please spread this information throughout your network so that it can reach as many people as possible!

For those interested in performing a little due diligence on me before deciding whether to use this information, I applaud your “lawyer-ly” approach. (See my LinkedIn profile). If you would like more specific information, feel free to email me at matthew.digesti@bristleconeholdings.com and I will be happy to send you my resume.